1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an interconnection module that permits monitoring of signals passing therethrough and, more particularly, to an interconnection module for providing a normal-through connection between two coaxial transmission lines carrying, for example, digital video signals that conform to the serial data interface (SDI) standard.
2. Background Art
In the telecommunications and broadcast industries (including, for example, telephone, television broadcast, high-definition television and video, and serial data interface (SDI)), an interconnection module is used to connect two signal lines and to facilitate monitoring of the signals. For example, a typical module includes a housing having a front face and a rear face. A pair of ports on the rear face is configured to receive the signal lines to be connected. A port on the front face is used to monitor the signal passing through the module. The rear ports are typically configured as BNC jacks, while the front port may be a BNC jack or a WECo (Western Electric Company) or mini WECo jack.
To monitor a signal passing through the module, a plug is placed into the monitor port of the module. It is important that the monitoring not disturb, interrupt or otherwise interfere with the signal passing through the module. In the case of high frequency digital signals such as SDI signals passing through 75 Ohm impedance cable, one known approach to prevent the monitoring from interfering with signals is to provide an in-line amplifier within the module. Failure of the in-line amplifier, however, can disrupt signal transmission.